IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN VERY MUCH OF US AROUND, WELL, CHECK THE SHADOWS

This is our new calling card.

For a lot of people in central Iowa, the big weekend for live music this spring in Des Moines happened last month. Elton John played Wells Fargo Arena on a Friday night. AC/DC followed on Saturday. The same night, Ani DiFranco hit Hoyt Sherman.

For me, the weekend that had been circled-- mentally, at least-- on my calendar for ages in advance was the one that just passed. Local heroes the Poison Control Center played their album release party at the Vaudeville Mews on Friday night, joined by Des Moines up-and-comers Christopher the Conquered, Wolves in the Attic and Derek Lambert, plus critically acclaimed Saddle Creek folk-poppers the Mynabirds. Scott Yoshimura of another successful local band, the Envy Corps, played the album release party for his new outfit, Canby (previously known as Menlo), on Saturday night, again at the Vaude, accompanied by the debut performance of Golden Veins (a new band featuring members of locals Beati Paolo), plus a set by Omaha's Skypiper. If you came downtown for the year's first farmers' market and didn't stick around for the late show, you missed out.

Little by little by little by little.

Put it this way: Minneapolis rapper Brother Ali, who played Sunday night, was probably the Vaude's biggest draw this weekend, but at that point, I was too exhausted to go. (So if anyone was there and wants to say how it was, please don't hesitate to comment below!)

Let's make it easier than it is.

PCC's new double LP, Sad Sour Future, is already a shoo-in for my albums of the year list, although I feel like I'm too close to the band and its music to review it professionally. It's best if you imagine it as four EPs, the way they originally conceived it-- the title is a nod to Stereolab singles collection Fab Four Suture-- and finally being able to pick up the vinyl has helped me to do just that (it also made sense when one of the members mentioned at the concert that they were inspired by the 70-minutes-plus albums of singer-songwriter Todd Rundgren). Spread across each of the four sides, you can hear four distinct types of songs: Patrick Tape Fleming's guitar-blazing classic-rock love songs, in full 1970s Electric Light Orchestra mode, as filtered through the low-budget psych sensibility of a guy who loves Elephant Six, Guided by Voices and Super Furry Animals; Devin Frank's laconic, slightly askew mini-narratives reminiscent of Pavement or Silver Jews; Joe Terry's poignant, simple and honest tunes that bring to mind Neil Young; and of course, Donald Ephraim Curtis's poppy, hook-filled numbers, including first video selection "Being Gone." Patrick mentioned to me once how each of the band members has such a different clothing style now in the album artwork. I think he was sort of wistful about it, longing for the days they were all more similar. But in my opinion, that's part of what makes PCC so great: Its members are all really interesting and cool, each in really different ways. Unlike all those bands out there with only one or two creative/dynamic members, everybody in this group writes songs-- sharp, well-crafted sing-alongs, at that. They all seem like just your average friendly Iowa dudes when you meet them-- then you see them play, or get to know Patrick's deep knowledge of basically every good rock or pop record ever, or find out about the time Joe stopped talking for a few weeks or gave the amazing impromptu speech upon winning Mews booker Ladd Askland's first annual "Man of the Year Award," or you talk to Devin about his philosophy studies at the University of Missouri, or you chat with Donald, himself a grad student at Iowa, over Twitter about, well, whatever people are twittering about that day. And-- man. Here's hoping that touring drummer David Olson, who will fill in for Donald while Donald is literally "being gone," can play an essential role of his own in the group; that's the kind of band they are.

I'm understanding how it feels

to understand.

As much as I love the record, though, what makes PCC even more special are their live shows. I've heard it said they were crazier in the early days, even before they opened for Elephant Six-ers Apples in Stereo-- like, back when they were wearing matching costumes to tie in with the idea that they were from the poison control center. I'll never know, but I do know that as many great bands as I'll probably see at 80/35, Pitchfork and wherever else this summer, I probably won't see any-- well, except maybe Robyn-- who work harder to (gasp!) actually ensure you're having a good time. I could bring along just about anybody to a PCC show and be confident they'll enjoy themselves. Friday's set at the Mews leaned more heavily on the new material, as it should have, so some of the usual crowd interaction wasn't there until triumphant finale "Magic Circle Symphony." But still, you had Devin soloing on his head, Patrick jumping off of the drum set and doing the splits, David joining Donald on auxiliary percussion, and members of Christopher the Conquered providing a horn section-- all for a ridiculous $5 ticket price (compare that to the $90 you could've spent for just one ticket to Elton or AC/DC, decades after either act's prime). Positioning myself right in front of the speaker might not have been the best call, but any long-term hearing loss was totally worth it. I'm sure PCC's show in Ames the next night with a reunited Keepers of the Carpet was even crazier, and I bet somehow they managed to top that Sunday in Iowa City, too.

 Filmmaker's dream:

Clint Curtis, Best Supporting Actor

Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival 2010

More on this weekend, plus upcoming Des Moines shows and PCC's full tour dates, after the jump:

COULD YOU TELL ME? COULD YOU TELL ME 'BOUT IT?

Headlights? Nah, iPhones don't even have a flash.

Headlights are a four-piece band from Champaign, Illinois, with guitars, keyboard, bass, drums, and both male and female vocals. Ordinarily I would say an "indie pop" band, for whatever that phrase is worth anymore, but I'm worried I've been misrepresenting them. Can we still say "dream pop," or is that phrase meaningless by now, too? Because Headlights' sound, especially live, is a lot more textured and hypnotic than the type of cute directness that "indie pop" probably connotes most of the time. Anyway, enough about sub-genres. They've never really been my thing. I'm no good at them!

"Cherry Tulips" was the song that stood out for me from Headlights' 2008 album, Some Racing, Some Stopping. I wrote one of those bummers of reviews, where you basically like the record but you realize you can't remember that many of the songs, and you don't wanna strongly recommend something to people if you apparently don't like it enough to remember many of the songs, so instead you go for faint praise. I listened a couple of times to their latest, Wildlife, but I had a similar kind of feeling about it and didn't want to pitch them again to say only semi-nice things when maybe somebody else would be nicer-- I liked the overall vibe, though (busting out every over-used word here today, sorry). After Tuesday night's show at the Vaudeville Mews, however, I realize the reason I didn't remember the songs wasn't because they weren't memorable; it's because they were more about prettiness and atmosphere than I was realizing, sort of like how people sometimes ask what's the big deal about Atlas Sound-- the lyrics are so repetitive, the tunes so simple, whatever-- and you just want to grab them and make them see how pretty everything is, his voice, the choice of instruments, the delay-pedal mind games. "Pretty" isn't a word that carries much weight, but it's a nice sound to have rushing across you from the stage, with those Spector-sweet melodies that made me mentally categorize Headlights as indie-pop but also the polished tightness (this on the first night of their tour!) of a skilled rock band and the atmospheric effects of other, more pretentious bands nowhere near as fun as these dudes.

The vocal duties are more evenly divided than I remembered, with moments of three-part harmony between keyboard player Erin Fein, guitarist Tristan Wraight, and bassist Nick Sanborn. I also had forgotten Sanborn's involvement-- he's a member of Polyvinyl labelmates Decibully, a Milwaukee band I have liked since before first seeing them at Chicago's Schubas in, like, January 2003 (I was also digging on related bands Camden, who were sort of emo-rock parallel to-- but artier and probably more British-inspired than-- Death Cab for Cutie, and New Sense, an underrated synth-pop combo... really need to get out those CDs again). I see now Headlights have billed themselves as "Indie Rock for People Who Love Pop", and that's really more on the mark than you might think; they filter well-played catchiness through the slightly abstract distance that artists like Deerhunter or Cass McCombs, say, might bring to Everly Brothers or Roy Orbison stylings. And when you do notice the lyrics behind the mesmerizing guitar repetitions, you stumble across everyday torments and grand concepts, presented with quietly devastating minimalism. Ooooh oooh oooh.

They played "Cherry Tulips". And, despite worries about running past their early set's 9 p.m. ending time, they played a few more, too. I may still not remember that many of the songs until I revisit the CDs again, but now I know why. I was impressed, pleased, and humbled, and I had a good time. This was Headlights' third show in Des Moines, I'm told, and I hope they'll come back-- it's probably also a good sign that the quality bands I've seen make return trips here always seem to keep attracting larger and larger audiences with each visit.

I missed Hanwell because of dinner-- I'll be seeing them again at their CD release party March 13-- but opener Canby was also a nice surprise. I didn't realize that was the Envy Corps' Scott Yoshimura, playing some of the songs I saw him do at Dogtown Fest in Des Moines' Drake area this summer, when he was calling the project Menlo. That time Yoshimura had a band, but the other night he was just solo with a guitar. The super-sincere "With the World on a Stick" caught my ear at Dogtown Fest, as a lovely folk-pop ballad that could appeal to fans of anything from Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning to Jose Gonzalez, and it struck me as a highlight again at the Vaudeville Mews. "I'm like every other guy who can play the guitar," Yoshimura acknowleges. "I'll write a song for you, even if it's no good/ 'Cause for once I know what I'm doing." If you can't relate to that, you're probably over-confident. Or I guess maybe you just don't write songs for people on the guitar. But anyway, good local music.

One for the Team: good at the Vaud lately, too.

Coming up: Poison Control Center at Vaudeville Mews Feb. 26, Cloud Cult at Grinnell Feb. 27, Charlie Hunter at Vaudeville Mews Feb. 28,  A Sunny Day in Glasgow w/ Wolves in the Attic at Vaudeville Mews March 4, Heligoats at Vaudeville Mews March 5, We All Have Hooks for Hands w/ One for the Team at Vaudeville Mews March 8, Vivian Girls at Grinnell March 13, Hanwell's EP release show with Patrick Fleming and Ely Falls at Vaudeville Mews also March 13 (so I won't be at Vivian Girls, this means... but just FYI!), the fifth annual Gross Domestic Product at All Play March 27, Red Pony Clock w/ Zoos of Berlin and Child Bite at Vaudeville Mews March 28 (awesome poster btw, guys!), Electric Six at Vaudeville Mews March 31, Love Is All at Vaudeville Mews April 8, the Morning Benders at Vaudeville Mews April 9, Dum Dum Girls at Vaudeville Mews April 12 (not 11 as I previously posted), Poison Control Center's Record Release Party at Vaudeville Mews April 30, Brother Ali at Vaudeville Mews May 2, MONO and the Twilight Sad at Vaudeville Mews May 18